Epic 67’s season is put on hold

Just when it looked like there was no slowing the Ottawa 67’s, out of the blue comes a pandemic. Go figure.

“As a player,” star defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer said, “I’d never predict anything like this to happen.”

Who could?

Following the lead of sports loops around the world, the Canadian Hockey League and its three regional leagues (in Ontario, Quebec and Western Canada) announced on Thursday that, because of the coronavirus threat, “the balance of the 2019-20 season and all hockey activity shall be paused immediately until further notice.”

The 67’s, who hit the 50-win mark for the second consecutive season on Tuesday with their seventh victory in a row, not only lead the OHL with a 50-11-0-1 mark, but are also the second ranked team in the country behind the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix.

They also have perspective. “Honestly, it’s the best thing for everyone,” said Hoefenmayer, a solid (six-foot-one, 196 pounds) 21-year old blueliner who is drawing plenty of interest at the pro level with 26 goals and 82 points in 58 games. “They want to let this thing die down, and they want to get ahead of it. So I think it’s a good decision to keep everyone’s safety first.

“Obviously, as a player and a competitor, you always want to be playing. The amount of hours and hard work we’ve put in, personally and as a team, a lot of us are fighting for a lot of things. Everyone on the team has something to fight for right now, and as a team we have something to fight for. We’ve had a goal since the start of the year, and it definitely sucks when something is put in the way, like a roadblock like this.

“It’s tough because of what we’ve done this year, and what we’ve been working towards, but at the same time you always want to have the safety of everyone in mind as well.”

Indeed, the 67’s have looked like a team on a mission since last spring ’s elimination in the OHL final by the Guelph Storm. They lead the Eastern Conference by 23 points over the second place Peterborough Petes. They are nine up on the Western Conference front-runners, the London Knights. Spearheaded by the league’s point leader (Marco Rossi) and second-deadliest sniper (Jack Quinn), they top the OHL in goals scored (296). And backed by Cedric Andree, who has the second best GAA in the province, they have given up a league-low 164 goals. dbrennan@postmedia.com